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“Ugh.....Miriam?” Eve’s hand followed her sleepy voice across the overstuffed comforter and mattress. “Miriammmmmm!” It came out a little harsher than she had wanted it to.
The girl next to her moaned and growled out. “Whaaaaaat?” She was angry for having been awakened.
“Shut that alarm off.”
Miriam rose up on her elbows, hair covering her face, drool dried in the corners of her mouth and her tongue so dry it stuck to the roof of her mouth. “I don’t have an alarm set. That's your phone going off.”
Eve sat up. “Oh my gosh, it’s my mom! What am I going to tell her about last night?” She questioned aloud.
She turned toward Miriam for answers, only to find her face planted back into her pillow. “There’s nothing to tell, we went for pizza after the game and came home. She doesn’t have to know that we went riding with Lucian after that and got drunk and barely made it home by 4:00 a.m.”
Eve took in a deep breath. “Okay. Sounds good.” She reasoned before answering the phone. “Hello?” She tried to make her voice sound as normal as possible.
“Hey Sweetie.” Her mom's voice was bright and cheery, too bright and cheery in the ears of someone that had been out way too late the night before.
“Oh, hey Mom.” Eve sounded a little less bright and cheery than her mom.
“How was the game last night?”
“Oh, you know…..” She rubbed her face and cleaned the sleep that had accumulated in the corners of her eyes. “uh, ewe..uh…” She flicked the dried crusty stuff off of her finger and wiped at the black eyeliner that was smeared under her eyes. “…..uh…you know….lost, as usual, we never win anything against the Giants.”
Her mom's voice softened. “Oh, I'm sorry honey, well I know you did your best and cheered them on no matter how they played, sweetie.” She always seemed to find something positive in any situation. “Well, I was just calling to check on you and let you know that dad and I are having our date night tonight so we won’t be home until pretty late.”
Relieved Eve answered. “Okay, that’s cool Mom, have fun.”
She was trying to end the conversation, but her mom added. “Hey, do you have any plans for tonight? I'd hate to leave you all home alone while dad and I are out having a good time.”
“Oh I don't know I might just stay over at Miriam’s again, if that’s okay?”
You could almost hear the smile in her voice. “Oh, I think that would be a great idea, if Huldah doesn’t mind.” Eve tapped Miriam on the back asking her to help her out and act as if she were asking her mom, Miriam yelled into her pillow.
Mom can Eve stay the night again, her parents are gross and having their date night tonight. Eve shoved the back of her head playfully.
“What was she saying?” Hannah St. Clair questioned.
“Oh nothing Mom, Ms. Huldah said that its fine.” Satisfied that her daughter would be taken good care of Hannah St. Clair she finished the conversation.
“Oh good, tell Huldah, I owe her one and you girls can spend the weekend here next week! Have a good time and I’ll see you at Sunday school in the morning. Love you.”
“I will, Mom, love you too.”
Miriam stirred a little shifting just her head from the face down in the pillow position to the side where she could see Eve through her hair. “So I'm getting the vibe that you wanna spend the night again?” Miriam's voice was full of sarcasm, she laughed at her own joke as she turned her head more to see Eve's reaction.
“Uh.... yea-uh.... hello?.....besides Lucian asked if I wanted to go for a ride today with him. After what happened before, mom would never let me go.” Eve nearly gushed.
“Yeah…” Miriam was not as impressed with Lucian Black as her friend was. “…and she'd be right in not letting you.”
Eve ignored the condescension in her best friend's voice and shoved at her shoulder. “Oh M, I'd really like to go, but I don't wanna go alone! Will you go too? Please...” She clutched Miriam's arm forcing her from her pillow.
Miriam drug herself back up to her elbows without removing her dark hair from her face. “Why?”
“Well.....he kinda alluded to the fact that he knew who owned that red truck from last night and might show it to me!” That’s when she started her onslaught of questions. “Who do you think it is? I wouldn't even begin to know who owned anything so beautiful! Do you? I mean something so big, so powerful, so massive and manly......” She was running 90 miles an hour and totally getting on Miriam's last nerve.
M pushed herself up to her knees on the bed. Her hair was a complete wreck, but she didn’t care Eve had seen her worse. I mean hello she had seen Eve look much worse. She wiped a trace of drool from the corners of her mouth. “Uh...yuck...ewe......” She hadn't even opened her eyes fully and here Eve was with her wishful little party this morning. Ugh…some people are just born morning people, thankfully she wasn’t and had no problem shooting any lofty little balloon of hope anyone dared to let sail in her presence this early in the day.
“Well, you might as well forget about the mystery truck. It has to belong to one of those goons from Palestine that's on the Giants' football team. I mean you saw it. It’s the only thing one of them could possibly fit in let alone drive. It was massive just like them! They probably just made a wrong turn and wound up in the tailgate parking lot by mistake. That's why they peeled out of their so fast. Besides if Lucian knew who it belonged to then it’s only a guess because he used to go to that school, used to being the operative words there. He doesn’t know Eve….he’s only stringing you along to get in your good graces or he would have told you already. That's all, nothing more. Let it go..let it go...you won't see it around anymore…...” The last part she sang in her best Elsa from Frozen impression.
Eve frowned. “Yeah? Well I just have a feeling that I’m gonna see it again soon.” Miriam pulled herself from the bed, grabbed a towel out of her closet and drug it behind her as she walked toward her bathroom.
“Blah, blah, blah big truck, big truck…….” Miriam mocked Eve's interest and waved her best friend off as she reached the bathroom door.
Miriam entered and closed the door. “That’s mean, M, but you’ll see. Trust me! You’ll see!” Eve shouted at her from the opposite side of the door.
Miriam's leaned against the back of the door listening to Eve go on and on over a stupid truck. And you don't get dibs on the guy when we find out who it really is! He's all mine! Was the last muffled thing she heard Eve throw at her from the opposite side of the door, but it was enough to make her laugh. “Hahaha......yeah, okay....” Sarcasm dripped from her response.
Eve’s phone rang again as the picture she took of her and Lucian popped up. She opened her phone, but didn't get a chance to say hello. “Hey babe.” It was like he just knew she was there. He had an odd way of knowing things. “You up beautiful? Ready for that ride?” His voice was deep and seductive as it came through the speaker.
Eve blushed. “Pssshhh….yeah, of course… been up for hours.” She lied. “What time do you wanna go?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Since you’re already up how about now?” Was he calling her bluff? Oh dear, yeah he was. She could hear him revving up the engine of his car, but she didn't just hear it over the phone she could feel the vibration of it like it was close by. Suddenly it hit her. He was close by, like sitting outside of Miriam’s house close by! At that moment, Miriam’s mother knocked on the bedroom door. Eve reached for the doorknob just as Huldah Marah opened it.
Both jumped and laughed, “Oh! You startled me!” Eve exclaimed.
Miriam's mom giggled, then cocked her hip out as she put her finger to her mouth as if she were choosing her words carefully. “Um….there seems to be a black Camaro out in the driveway. Would it be waiting for either of you?” She grinned with a glint of playfulness in her eyes.
“Oh yes ma’am, he’s waiting on us.” She lifted
her phone and wiggled it around expressing that she already knew. “Miriam’s in the shower, we’ll be down in a few.” She spoke rather quickly into the phone before ending the call just as Miriam stepped out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her midsection.
She looked at them in bewilderment. “What?” She questioned as her gaze darted between the two a couple of times then finally resting on Eve who was grinning from ear to ear. “What’s going on?” She asked again.
“Oh not much,” Huldah Marah interjected with a grin on her face too big to ignore, “.....only that a certain young man is outside revving up his engine waiting on the two of you. I’ll go and ask him to come in while he waits.” She turned and headed downstairs.
“Oh my word, we have to hurry! We can’t let him talk to your mother for that long! He'll be bombarded with all kinds of questions about where we are going and not to mention what we did last night!” Eve was nervous as she rushed to take a shower herself choosing to exclude washing her hair. It didn’t take either girl long to get ready as they heard Miriam’s mom talking at the front door to Lucian. In no time at all they had rescued him and were out the door headed to his car.
“Sorry about her mom Lucian.” Eve spoke as she let Miriam slip into the back seat.
“No problem, we were just getting to know each other a little better.” He started the Camaro and looked back toward the front porch where Miriam’s mom was standing and waving rather flirtatiously with a grin on her face. “Your mom is totally hot, Miriam.” He shot over his shoulder.
“Hey! Don't ever talk about my mom like that.....” She met his gaze in the rear view mirror, her voice dropping and taking on a deep, husky more meaningful tone. “I mean it.....don't!” She glared at him, but Lucian just laughed and turned around to look out the back window as he backed out of the drive. “Chill, lil' pill.......it was a compliment.” Their eyes held fast for a moment. She gave him a death look, whereas his was more like a sly half knowing smile showing her that he was unaffected by her glares.